


Something In The Water

by jenatwork



Series: Substitute [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, M/M, multiple side-ships, probably taking liberties with acceptable boarding school behaviour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 13:34:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3694202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenatwork/pseuds/jenatwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>End of the school year, and as Makoto watches Haru and Rin become closer, he feels left behind. Fortunately for him, he's not the only one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something In The Water

Rin had insisted the party was a tradition, something the second-years organised every year to say farewell to their departing upper-classmen the week before graduation. Makoto can't remember him mentioning it last year, but he figures it's just a Samezuka thing – no reason for them to have known about it. Last few days before graduation, when no one cares so much if they're off-campus one night. He's grateful to Nitori for extending the invitation to the Iwatobi club members (minus Gou – no way would Rin let his little sister near a room full of drunk, excited swimmers) and he really does want to enjoy himself. So to find himself alone in the corner, nursing a beer that's quickly warming in his hand, is disappointing to say the least.

Across the room, Haruka's huddled on a sofa, empty hands clasped between his knees. Rin is sprawled beside him, making up for Haru's stillness by gesturing wildly, his bottle of beer in danger of spilling over as he talks excitedly at Haru. A casual observer might assume Haru has no interest in the conversation, but Makoto sees the way Haru can't take his eyes of Rin's face; if Haru didn't want to be there, he'd get up and walk away. Walk over to Makoto and sigh and bump their shoulders together, to let Makoto know it's time to leave. As long as Haruka remains on that couch, he wants to stay there and listen to Rin.

A couple of Samezuka freshman push past him to get to the stairs, only one of them bothering to mumble an apology. Suddenly needing to move, Makoto shoves himself off the wall and begins to make his way to the kitchen. It's slow-going – the room is too crowded for his liking - and before he can reach the doorway he feels someone grab his wrist. Steeling himself for a confrontation, he looks back, only to see a flushed Nagisa beaming up at him.

“Mako-chan! Isn't this party the best?” Nagisa hurls himself at Makoto, both arms wrapping tightly around his waist. “I'm going to miss you guys so much when you all leave! Promise me you'll let me visit you in Tokyo!”

Nagisa doesn't wait for an answer; just hides his face in the front of Makoto's shirt. Makoto doesn't say anything to him. Instead he ruffles Nagisa's hair, then looks behind him to where Rei stand with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking deeply apologetic. 

“How many drinks has he had, Rei?” Makoto asks, more amused than anything.

“None at all, Makoto-senpai,” Rei assures him, before trying to peel Nagisa away. It takes some effort; Nagisa's grip is fierce, but when he finally lets go he's smiling, latching on to Rei instead.

“This party is fun! Let's go dance, Rei!” And Nagisa bounds away, a flustered Rei unable to keep from being dragged along with him. Makoto chuckles, until his gaze falls back to the couch where Rin is leaning in to tell Haru something important, and he doesn't feel like laughing anymore. Stuck for something to do, Makoto drains the rest of his beer and continues towards the kitchen in search of a second.

It's a relief to find a little more space, most of the party-goers only dipping into the kitchen to replenish their drinks before heading back out again. The house that's been commandeered for the party is impressive. The Samezuka swim club (and a few extras that Makoto doesn't recognise) are mostly contained in the living room, but some have wandered out into the garden while it's still light out, and a few are sitting on the stairs, talking in twos and threes where it's quieter. Makoto is soon alone in the kitchen, and he quickly finds a stash of cold beer bottles. He rummages some more to find a bottle opener, and only realises he's chanting, “Bottle opener, bottle opener” to himself when a voice behind him answers, “On top of the fridge.”

Makoto hopes he doesn't look startled as he turns, but it must show somehow, since he breathes a sigh upon seeing Sousoke lounging in the doorway. He's holding a bottle in one hand, the other jammed into the pocket of his track pants, and he's half-smiling, so he must know he's caught Makoto off-guard. 

Makoto mumbles a thank-you as he retrieves his prize, then opens his beer and downs half of it, just for something to do. He has no idea what to say to Sousoke, this friend-of-a-friend who ought to be someone he'd get along with but who keeps this strange, elusive distance from the Iwatobi club. 

“Loud in there, huh?” Sousoke gets in first, saving him the trouble. He nods his head in the direction of the living room to clarify.

Makoto nods and tries a smile of his own, moving to stand so that he can see into the living room, leaning against the kitchen counter. He's not hiding, really. He's just taking a breather. And absolutely in no way is he watching Rin put his hand on Haru's knee as he's talking to him.

“I'm not much for crowds,” he explains, and sips his beer. The second tastes better than the first, still icy cold and refreshing after the cloying heat of the crowded living room. Sousoke nods as if to say, 'same here', but doesn't make any attempt to further the conversation. And damn, why is this so awkward? He wants to talk, knows Sousoke's a good guy, but all he can think to ask about is his injury, and what the hell he's going to do after graduation now that his chances of swimming competitively have been shot to hell.

“You Iwatobi guys planning a grad party?” Sousoke asks, before taking another hefty slug from his own bottle.

“Nothing like this,” he answers with a laugh. “We'll probably just go out to dinner, maybe with Coach Sasabe.”

“Living large, huh?”

“An Iwatobi swim club party would be three freshmen, us four and Gou,” he explains with a wry smile. “Not what you'd call a party.” 

He's interrupted by Momo dashing into the kitchen tro grab two bottles of beer. The kid's halfway out again before he spins around, calls out, “Hi, Tachibana-senpai!” and salutes sloppily before rushing back to the party.

“And we wouldn't let our freshmen get drunk,” Makoto continues.

Sousoke sips his beer before answering.

“It's once a year. He'll wake up with a sore head, swear 'never again' and won't drink anymore. Until next year's party.”

For a while, they focus on their drinks, Sousoke nodding his head in time with the music pulsing through the house. Makoto contemplates asking anyway, since graduation and college are all anyone talks about these days. Until he catches sight of Haru leaning in close to hear what Rin's whispering into his ear. He must be scowling, because Sousoke quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Problem?”

Makoto glances back at Haru, then takes a couple of steps further into the kitchen so he can't see that couch anymore. Now his view of the party is limited to where Momo and a couple of other freshmen are dancing half-heartedly in the middle of the room.

“Ever feel like you're being left behind by someone?” The words are out before he realises he's planned them. In his mind, he curses the second beer before hiding his embarrassment with a long drink. Sousoke looks into the living room, at the couch that Makoto can no longer see, then back at him.

“The way I heard it, you're the one going off to college in Tokyo. Wouldn't that make you the one doing the leaving?”

And that's true, that's totally fair, so maybe Makoto thinks he got the words wrong.

“Okay, left out, maybe.”

Sousoke watches him for a moment, then rolls his eyes.

“Jeez, are any of you Iwatobi guys straight?”

For a second, Makoto's blown away; he's certain his remarks had been opaque enough not to give himself away. But yeah, it's probably not that hard to see. Haru, practically his other half, is cosying up to Rin while he hides in the kitchen talking woefully about being left behind.

Then something else tugs at his mind.

“Wait...what?”

Sousoke points to another part of the living room, and Makoto leans in and looks. Sees Rei slumped on the floor, legs straight out in front of him. Sees Nagisa sitting beside him, his legs slung over Rei's knees. Rei's arm is around Nagisa's shoulder, his hand tangled loosely in the hair at the nape of Nagisa's neck.

And “Woah,” because that's new. Not the closeness, because Nagisa's always touching somebody. But the hand thing, that's intimate like Makoto's never seen them before. And it makes him smile, in spite of his self-pity. Sousoke catches him, and soon he's grinning too.

“You know,” he tells Sousoke, “I could say the same about the Samezuka club.”

Sousuke thinks for a minute, then ventures, “Momo likes girls.”

“Really?”

Sousoke scowls, so Makoto gestures with the neck of his bottle to where Momotarou has his arms around Nitori. Momo, eyes closed, lost in the music, is grinding enthusiastically against his senpai. Makoto can see that Nitori is blushing furiously, but he makes no move to push Momo away.

He looks back at Sousoke, holding eye contact for longer than is comfortable, until eventually Sousoke's face crumbles into a smile.

“Momo's sixteen and drunk, and Momo. He'd do that to anything that stayed still long enough.”

“You're telling me he's not sweet on Nitori-kun?” Makoto grins.

“Must be something in the water,” Sousoke replies. He drinks his beer, eyes on Makoto the whole time. “And maybe you're not the only one being left behind.”

It takes Makoto three whole seconds to process what Sousoke's trying to tell him, and another two to react.

“Oh.” So it's not the greatest reaction, but he's two beers and a lot of angst into a weird night, so he should be forgiven for not being at his best. Besides, Sousoke's still looking at him, with one eyebrow raised like he's asking something, if only Makoto could figure out what.

Sousoke drains the last of his drink and sets the empty bottle down on the counter. He steps closer and, when Makoto doesn't move, takes his bottle from his unresisting hand and puts that aside too.

“Seems like everyone out there has someone,” Sousuke rumbles. “Hardly seems fair to me.” 

He stands there, like he's waiting, and Makoto thinks, I could move, if I really wanted to. But he braces both hands on the kitchen counter and matches Sousuke's stare. So Sousuke takes another step, so he's inches away from Makoto, and Makoto has to look _up_ to look into his eyes, and that's weird but kinda cool too. He stands, like he's giving Makoto a chance to leave, and when Makoto doesn't flinch, Sousuke puts both hands on the counter too, his forearms brushing Makoto's waist.

“Not fair at all,” Makoto agrees, before Sousuke leans in. And oh, okay, it's a little weird; Sousuke's got him so his head is tipped back, and when his hands go to Makoto's back and pull him closer he actually feels small for the briefest moment, weak as his hands find Sousuke's biceps and Sousuke crowds him up against the counter. But it's warm and wet and needy, and Sousuke is so close, close like no one's ever been to Makoto, surrounding him and holding him up as he forgets how to stay upright in the face of such an onslaught. 

He has to stop eventually, pulling back and gasping for air, but one hand finds its way to the back of Sousuke's neck, to the soft black hair that's not quite long enough for him to grasp, so he settles for brushing his fingers over it.

“You okay?” Sousuke asks. His chest rises and falls quicker than usual, and the fingers of one hand are stroking lightly at the small of Makoto's back. Makoto nods.

“I'm okay,” and he pulls Sousuke back in for more. It's a little awkward, with the kitchen counter digging into his hip, but Sousuke's hand slips under his shirt, and it's warm against his skin, and he makes the occasional rumbly sort of moan deep in his throat and the sound just does something to Makoto, making him push his hips against Sousuke's, and oh god he didn't think he could do this with anyone but Haru, yet here he is with Sousuke's tongue flickering against his and Sousuke's big, big hands on his back pulling him closer.

Something jostles them, and they break apart to see Momo putting two empty bottles on the counter before grabbing two new ones.

“Hi again, Tachibana-senpai!” he calls, before he runs back out of the kitchen. Makoto watches over Sousuke's shoulder as Momo gives one bottle to Nitori before using his now-empty hand to pull Nitori in for a kiss. They can hear Nitori's flustered “Momo-kun!” over the music, before Nitori relents and kisses him back. Behind them, Rei and Nagisa are still huddled together on the floor. Nagisa is attempting to Eskimo-kiss Rei, who wrinkles his nose and frowns, before kissing Nagisa properly. Makoto wonders if Haru and Rin are still sitting on the couch, and imagines the two of them sharing shy kisses; it still makes him ache a little inside, and he presses his face into Sousuke's shoulder to hide his embarrassment. But, he figures, they all seem happy right now. And what kind of friend would he be if he tried to get in the way of his friends' happiness?

Besides, Sousuke's hand is at his neck, thumb brushing his earlobe, and when he looks up, Sousuke's eyes are hungry. And Makoto thinks, maybe I can just forget about it for a little while, at least.


End file.
